The Vulture is red-wine country. Not “also” red-wine country: it is one of the most important red-wine territories in Italy, where Aglianico rules and no one expects anything else. Then they pour you a white, and you have to think again.
Il Preliminare does exactly this: it doesn’t ask permission to exist in red-wine territory, it claims its place with a naturalness that catches you off guard. And it’s an extremely credible place, not a decorative one.
It is no coincidence that Cantine del Notaio is one of the protagonists of Italian wine excellence. Gerardo Giuratrabocchetti and his wife Marcella founded it in 1998 on the slopes of the extinct volcano, gathering, in their own words, not their grandfather’s vineyards, but his values. From there, they have brought Aglianico del Vulture to the top, one label after another.
The name, after all, already says it all, because in this house the wines are named like a notary’s deeds: L’Atto, Il Rogito, La Firma. Il Preliminare is the contract that comes before, the promise that precedes the signature. It’s the wine with which the winery shakes your hand before truly letting you in.
In the glass, this is Aglianico vinified white, together with Chardonnay and Malvasia, on volcanic soils. No wood: only steel, with a bâtonnage that gives it backbone without taking away its momentum. Straw yellow. On the nose it starts with fresh fruit, apple, pear, peach, and turns exotic: pineapple, mango, papaya, with hawthorn and broom reminding you where you are. On the palate it is savory, taut, fresh. “The minerality of the land, ours,” as the label rightly states.
We put it to the test with a rabbit stew fragrant with a bundle of aromatic herbs. On paper it’s a gamble: a fresh, savory white against a structured, spiced white meat. In the glass, a successful match, the sapidity cleanses, the fruit accompanies the herbs, the freshness carries the bite. Excellent.A white that, in the land of great reds, doesn’t just make a cameo appearance. It signs its name too.
Company Profile
Cantine del Notaio, in the green heart of Basilicata, has been dedicating its commitment to explore all the potential of Aglianico del Vulture making a great research on this indigenous variety grape that groves here at its best thanks to a combination of temperatures (a big difference in degrees during summer season between the day and the night and very high temperatures due to hot air coming from Africa), lack of rain (no rainfall for 2 months in summer season), a good exposition of the vineyards and the rich volcanic soil (the presence of a common tufa volcanic layer under the soil that feed the plants, in local dialect “u tuf c’allatt”). The winery owns 52 acres of vineyards on the most vocated hillsides of the Vulture area (called the first zones) in 5 different municipalities (Maschito, Ripacandida, Ginestra, Rionero in Vulture e Barile). The wines of Cantine del Notaio are all aged in very old natural tufa caves that date back from 1600, belonged to the Franciscan Monks (underground the street level, long about 1500 Km), that guarantees a constant humidity all the year. Cantine del Notaio produces 17 different wines, 12 of them are made with Aglianico del Vulture grapes, the others made with Moscato, Malvasia, Chardonnay, Fiano and Sauvignon. They are harvested in different periods (starting from end of August till end of November) obtaining so a different result from the same grape depending on the phenolic maturing process that makes a great difference on the wine. This is possible because the Aglianico del Vulture is one of the latest grapes in terms of maturing process. The names of the labels all refer to the notary profession, and there is a logic order: L’Atto, Il Repertorio, La Firma and Il Sigillo are the red wines; Il Lascito is a Twenty Years Anniversary Red Wine; La Scrittura is the rosé wine while Il Rogito is called the “roSsato” wine because of its colour; Il Preliminare, La Raccolta and La Parcella are the white wines; Il Passaggio is the sparkling charmat method wine while La Stipula Bianca Brut and La Stipula Rosé are the sparkling classic method wines; Il Protesto is the sparkling red wine; La Nota is the sparkling red classic method wine; La Postilla is the sparkling sweet wine made with Moscato grapes and L’Autentica is the passito wine made with Moscato and Malvasia.
CANTINE DEL NOTAIO
0972723689 – info@cantinedelnotaio.it
https://www.cantinedelnotaio.it
Via Roma, 159 – 85028 – Rionero in Vulture (Pz)
